This is exactly what the commissioner had in mind when he pushed for the Classic, and the Dominican Republic and Venezuela put on a show that made the concept look like a stroke of genius.

Bartolo Colon, the 2005 AL Cy Young winner for the Los Angeles Angels, pitched three scoreless innings for the win. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two before leaving after 50 pitches -- well below the opening-round limit of 65.

Johan Santana, the 2004 AL Cy Young recipient, yielded Ortiz's first homer, a second run that was unearned and took the loss. He threw 61 pitches in 3 1/3 innings and allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five.

"We were all aware of their pitching staff, and we had to be patient and wait for the right pitch to hit," said Ortiz, who had three RBIs.

Ortiz and Beltre, who drove in five runs, each hit a two-run homer in the ninth as the Dominicans broke open a 6-5 game.

Ronnie Belliard added an RBI single to finish a five-run inning that set off a wild celebration among flag-toting, horn-blowing Dominican fans, some of whom even danced on top of the dugout after Beltre's second homer.

That's where some controversy came into play, with Venezuela manager Luis Sojo barreling out of the dugout to argue that Cabrera's RBI double should have been ruled a two-run homer that would have tied the score at 6 in the seventh.

Two innings earlier, Cabrera's two-run homer cut into a 6-1 lead the Dominican Republic built with the help of Ortiz's solo homer off Santana and Beltre's three-run drive off Carlos Zambrano.

Cabrera's seventh-inning double off Julian Tavarez hit the top of the wall in left-center and caromed back to the field. Cabrera pumped his fist and held his right arm in the air as he rounded first, thinking he had his second homer.

"The umpires are closer than we are," Alfonzo said. "We tried to see the replay, but it was tough to tell."

The matchup of star-laden lineups drew a sellout crowd of 10,645 to The Ballpark at Disney, the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves.

And with Ortiz and Beltre leading the way, the Dominicans hardly seemed to miss a couple of big names who aren't here for the first round -- Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez.

Guerrero, whose jersey hung on the side of the batting cage while his teammates were taking swings before the game, pulled out after three cousins died in a car accident. Ramirez reported late for spring training and isn't ready to play.

This was billed as the premier matchup in Pool D -- maybe even the entire first round -- for a reason.